Search - Guitar Signature Licks: Muddy Waters on DVD

Steady Rollin Bob Knows His Stuff

J. Jackson | Midwest United States | 08/09/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Yes, Bob Margolin played with Muddy Waters. Yes, he knew the man. Yes, his guitar playing is dead on. And yes, this DVD will give you an insight into how to play like Muddy.

This DVD is not for beginners, unless you want to buy it and practice with it for a few years. But if you're already playing some blues [especially the worn out, trite, SRV kind] and want a change, this DVD will absolutely affect your life in a very positive way.

The teaching style is more of - "I can do it and here's how it's done." Not much explaining. It's more like "I played it, now you play it." But what more could you ask for? Do you think Muddy or Robert Johnson, would have made a "Here's how to play like me" DVD. Nope. Legend has it that RJ turned his back to play so no one could see what he was doing. But I digress ...

The cool thing is that this is a DVD. So you can pause, rewind, slow down, and repeat specific parts until you are close to Bob, who is close to Muddy. Then when you're close, you can blend it with your own style (please) and let yourself come out in the music.

This DVD covers Muddy's Open G slide style ("I Can't Be Satisfied"), his standard tuning finger picking delta blues style ("Kind Hearted Woman"), his up-tempo standard tuning blues (here as "Main Street", but I prefer "Stuff You Gotta Watch"), and [MY FAVORITE] his standard tuning slide style.

I started playing standard tuning slide along with Mr. Margolin and I was in heaven! I couldn't stop. Big Legged Woman ... Keep your dress down ... you got something, darlin ... Make a Bulldog of a hound ... I like animals ...

This DVD gets a 4 star rating only because the tab pamphlet that came with it is not that great. It is about 80% accurate and doesn't include everything on the DVD, but why should it? My Guitar Signature Licks: BB King didn't even come with a tab pamphlet. I had to buy the matching book. But, if you're going to include it, do it right. Anyway ...

BOTTOM LINE: BUY THIS DVD
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I can't be satisfied

Marcus Aurelius | PA USA | 04/22/2007

(2 out of 5 stars)

"Strange production this is. There's too much time showing full shots of the guy playing guitar, not an effective way of reading what the guy is playing. The best is when there's a close up of the slide on the neck. Duh. Shouldn't there be at least some explanation as to which strings are being used? The "instructor" seems to have more of an "I can play like Muddy, but don't expect me to show you how" attitude. Yea there's a little booklet, but if you don't know how to read tabs, you're even more confused. The production value is really lousy--looks like someone said, "I'll pay you a few bucks to sit here and play. We'll package it as an instruction video" with little thought as to whether you could really use this dvd. Yea, you'll pick up a few tricks, but it's pretty hard to watch it too many times because of all the stupid gab--"I have a picture of me when I was 18 trying to play this song." How many times can you sit through that one before you just say, I'd rather listen to Muddy and pick it up directly from the master. Lots of used copies available, and for good reason."

Nice insight into Muddy Water's Style

Marc Winter | Switzerland | 12/16/2005

(3 out of 5 stars)

"The other review covers all the main points, So I only want to point out a few things he didn't mention: Where Movie DVDs have a booklet, this DVD includes a little notation books, which makes up for the missing explanations of Bob Margolin.
On all of the songs, Margolin talks before he plays. But only on some is there a chapter division, when the playing begins. This is a little careless, and at the price, I find it annoying.
Same goes for the overall length of maybe 45 minutes. For $20 this is too little."